joyceanndavis.com

I recently reached my goal weight after four months of eating healthier and exercising. I lost an average of 1.5 pounds per week, exactly what my trusty Lose It! iPhone app said I would! Several people have asked me how I lost 30 pounds in 4 months, so I’ve jotted down some of the key things that I found worked for me. I figured I’d share it here in case it’s helpful to anyone else.

Nutrition

• Joyce’s Spicy Cabbage Soup – I make a huge batch every couple of weeks and keep it in big containers in the fridge. I usually eat it for one meal a day. It’s low-cal and I have yet to get tired of it.
• Convenience – I know a lot of people avoid pre-packaged foods, but honestly, they’ve been a great way for me to stay on track with eating healthy. Here are some of my faves:
  • Quaker Oats Weight Control Oatmeal – added protein means you don’t get hungry as fast
  • South Beach High Protein Cereal Bars – 10g of protein and only 140 calories; morning snack
  • 100-calorie microwave popcorn packs – volume baby! This is my afternoon snack. I can’t STAND those little 100-calorie Nabisco packs that have about 5 crackers each!
  • Sugar free pudding and popsicles – I use these as evening snacks.
  • Healthy Choice Complete meals – the only frozen dinners that actually feel like a full meal. I have one for lunch every weekday.
  • Crustless sugar-free pumpkin pie – this isn’t pre-packaged, but after I bake it, I divide it into single serving containers.
  • Chicken/turkey packs – I brown ground turkey and put 3.5 oz. in snack bags and freeze. I do the same with diced, marinated chicken. This makes it easy for me to grab a single serving of protein to add to my cabbage soup.
• Calorie cycling (zig-zag) – to break plateaus, I would eat a little more for a day or two, then scale back for a day or two. I’d still eat the same weekly allotment of calories, but varying the daily amounts seemed to help my body from going into “starvation mode.”

Exercise

• Stair climbing – 2-3 times a week, I walk the stairs at the office before work, then take a shower at the on-site facilities. On the weekends I walk the parking garage stairs at Hill Country Galleria.
• Walking hills – as an alternative to stair climbing, I walk around my neighborhood which happens to be hilly and beautiful. Lucky me! Two laps is a little less than 3 miles and takes me about 50 minutes.
• Sit ups, push ups, free weights – I’ve got exercise routines I do at home most evenings.

Electronics – because a list from Joyce would not be complete without reference to gadgets

• iPhone – podcasts are essential during exercise, as is the stopwatch app
• Lose It! – I credit this iPhone app for helping me consistently log my food intake and exercise time. It’s really an amazing app, and it’s FREE!
• Digital scale – kitchen (for food) and bathroom (for body). My food scale is awesome and easily switches between grams and ounces. My bathroom scale is a cheap digital one, and only has the .5 lb. increments, which I prefer so that I don’t obsess over a 10th of a pound here and there.

Support systems during weight loss are also very important, and although I don’t go to Weight Watchers meetings or visit with a Jenny Craig consultant, I do have friends with whom I share my weight struggles and victories. These friends (and you know who you are) have been a huge gift to me. I’ve also made some new friends in the Lose It! online community, which has been terrific. I hope you’ll connect with me if you’re interested in supporting each other to achieve a healthy lifestyle!